Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation

The author, Mary Daly, seems to think that all females are these intrinsically magical, dynamic creatures, explaining the boring/stupid ones by sentences like these: "Women who are seemingly incapable of a high degree of self-actualization have been made such by societal structures that are products of human attempts to CREATE SECURITY. They do receive a kind of security in return for accepting very LIMITED AND UNDIFFERENTIATED IDENTITIES." (p. 23). And: "Females...have been infected by the dynamics of the Mirror World: They find in themselves reflections of the sickness of their masters". (p. 197)It is the classic Nature VS Nurture debate on the question of these non-dynamic females. I lean towards thinking that at least some of these females are naturally, intrinsically non-dynamic, boring, even stupid, and the argument I would make for this actually comes from Daly's own writing---my experiences show me so. If Daly has one fatal flaw it is this: She is overly egalitarian (and sometimes overly academic in tone) when it comes to her generalizations on women.But this flaw is more than balanced by some truly out-of-the-box, original, insightful, rebellious expressions that do reverberate for authentically dynamic women. The following are just some examples:-The power of presence, for those who are fixated upon patriarchal space, is threatening. (p. 41) It throws those who WOULD ASSUME THE ROLE OF EXPLOITERS back into their sense of nothingness. (p. 42)-Rage is required as a positive creative force. It rises as a reaction to the shock of recognizing what has been lost-before it had even been discovered-one's own identity. (p. 43)-"Demonic Power Relationship" (p. 43)-[There is] the direction of the self-hatred of the male outward against women. (p. 48)-Both women and men identify with the goals of the superordinate group and therefore see the rebellious female as "the enemy". (p.48)-Mary [Jesus's mother] is the Goddess symbol which Christianity was never able to wipe out entirely. (p. 87) She has had a power which contrasts with the artificiality and rootlessness of the Jewish and Christian god. (p. 92)-Not only the rapist but frequently also the priest view her as an OBJECT TO BE MANIPULATED ---in one case physically, and in the other case psychologically: MACHISMO RELIGION. (p. 109)-Men give nonverbal cues signaling status above women. (p. 136)-There is now social pressure for women to be available to any male at the beck of a once-over, to be a NONPROFESSIONAL WHORE". (p.122)-"Ovarian Insight" (p. 146)And, finally, there are these lines which will resonate for any woman who has ever been coerced, manipulated, exploited, used, or forced into any kind of sexual activity: "NO LONGER internalize the projections that CUT OFF the flow of being" (p. 42) and "Break out of the CYCLES of rapism". (p. xvi)

Filled with philosophical mumbo jumbo. My goal was to read this book to see what feminism actually is about rather than what people say it is about. It was rather eye opening. Daly is all about an androgynous society. I think that has in many ways happened as people in our day are confused about their gender. There is a huge push in our culture to pretend men and women are the same. You can read the book and decide if reaching these goals has worked out to be the utopia Daly imagined.

The dated writing style makes this book almost unreadable. The author frequently hyphenates words unnecessarily, in order to make a point of each word. She frequently capitalizes words unnecessarily, as if to call them out. She frequently pairs similar words with a slash. The result is difficult to read and makes her sound almost Victorian. Although the book is called "Beyond God the Father," it actually seems to be a discussion of Christian religious terms with new definitions which she spells out, to explain her point. I couldn't read it all.

This book speaks of a hope to go beyond the folly of all male religions and beyond the effect these outdated patriarchial concepts are having on our planet. I am not a marxist however to see women in Australia in 2012, 2013 reduced to surrogacy, where polygomy is accepted and intelligent high performing women are harassed out of employment has reminded me it;s not only the men from our own culture that can act badly to women based on male religious concepts it is now the thundering masses of several billion lumpens. His term is quoted below.Lumpenproletariat, was originally coined by Marx to describe that layer of society unlikely to ever achieve and were an actual impediment to society and government. Many exist and are now called NGO's. Alongside decayed rougés with dubious means of subsistence and of dubious origin, alongside ruined and adventurous offshoots of the bourgeoisie, were vagabonds, discharged soldiers, discharged jailbirds, escaped galley slaves, swindlers, mountebanks, lazzaroni, pickpockets, tricksters, gamblers, maquereaux [pimps], brothel keepers, porters, literati, organ grinders, ragpickers, knife grinders, tinkers, beggars -- in short, the whole indefinite, disintegrated mass, thrown hither and thither, which the French call la bohème

This book is not for the timid, nor for blind followers. It is a brilliant book filled with creative energy and passion. Mary Daly's intellectually stimulating views and viewpoints stir the deep recesses of the mind, and effectively jar the force-fed preconceptions we so meekly take for granted.This book challenges US, as readers, as thinkers, to more than anything, question outdated modes of indoctrination taught within the guise of religious belief. Mary Daly was a philosopher, a theologian, a scholar, an amazing linguist, and most of all, a thinker. One of those rarities seldom spotted during these modern times, and certainly more advanced than most of her contemporaries. She gave a voice and platform to those who had been stifled and silenced since the dark ages. I am thankful for the Mary Daly's of the world. For their abilities to circumvent prescribed think-tank thoughts and literatures, thereby, providing us with new pathways to explore without wading through muck, grime, and obstructive brambles.Mary Daly passed away in 2010. Her voice will remain. Her questions will nudge insistently. I recommend this book to anyone who hungers, even after being force-fed the widely accepted biblical platitudes which rely upon distorted historical accounts. Excellent.

very interesting book, although very densegives great examples about the various oppression of the patriarchy on womenoffers a solution to thiseven if you don't believe in this ideology and the liberation of women and men - this book is worth the read to gain a different perspective.

Great read, insightful